A new flood emergency has been declared in Adamawa State as the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) confirmed dangerously high water levels in Bakin Kogi, Jimeta. The river’s height has exceeded 6.0 meters, the point at which severe flooding becomes almost certain.
Upstream water discharge, measured at over 3,222 m³/s, is adding pressure to an already fragile situation. NEMA warned that “low-lying areas of Jimeta and surrounding flood prone communities are under immediate threat.”
On the ground, residents in affected areas have been relocating to emergency shelters. Limawa and Gwadabawa Secondary Schools are currently housing some of the displaced.
“Some displaced persons have already sought refuge at Limawa and Gwadabawa Secondary Schools. Residents in high-risk areas are strongly advised to remain alert and heed official safety instructions,” NEMA emphasized.
In the past week alone, flash floods have left dozens missing and hundreds homeless in Yola’s Shagari Low Cost and Yolde Pate communities.
Nationwide data shows the scale of the crisis: 140,228 people across 21 states have been affected since January. Over 49,205 residents are displaced, 10,663 houses destroyed, and 9,454 farmlands ruined.
The hardest-hit states are Imo (28,030 victims), Rivers (22,345), Adamawa (12,613), Abia (11,907), and Delta (8,810). Others include Borno (8,164), Kaduna (7,334), Bayelsa (5,868), Lagos (5,793), Akwa Ibom (5,409), Niger (3,786), Ondo (3,735), Edo (3,234), Kogi (2,825), Sokoto (1,916), Kwara (2,663), Kano (1,446), Jigawa (1,428), Gombe (972), Anambra (925), and the FCT (1,025).
NEMA says its Yola Operations Office is working with Disaster Response Units and local leaders to prepare relief supplies and coordinate further evacuations if the river continues to rise.